Ecclesiastes 12:10

  In 2014, some of the workers on London's Underground system went on strike for two days. The strike closed 171 of the system's 270 stations, leaving commuters scrambling to find alternative routes using buses, aboveground trains, or the stations that remained open. Researcher were able to track the commuters thru their fare card. They found that most folks went back to their normal routes when the strike was over.   But what was surprising is that when the strike was over, not everybody returned to their habitual commuting route. One in twenty of the commuters who had switched then stayed with the route that they had used during the strike; presumably, they had discovered that it was faster or cheaper or preferable in some other way to their old routine. The disruption had helped them find something better, a way that was there all along but they were too used to the old one   In life, we all fall into patterns of behavior. Some of those can be good things, but som...

  There are two ways to lose weight, lower your food intake or increase your activity.  There are two ways to better the bottom line, increase your income or cut your costs.   If you get to thinking about it lots of improvement come when we either delete something negative or insert more of the positive.  Either can work but the best is if you do them both.  Sometimes in our attempts to remove negative things, it leaves a hole that habits can flow back into. Other times we want to increase good activities only to find them crowded out by bad ones.  In spiritual matters, it is true as well. If we want more fruits of the Spirit, we need to put to death the deeds of the flesh. If we want to walk in the light, we must avoid the darkness. If we want to curb unwholesome talk, we need to add grace to season our speech.  Sometimes to “add to” we must “take away” as well.

  In a recent radio segment, I heard Hall of Fame quarterback and current Fox broadcast Troy Aikman make an interesting observation. He said very early on in his career, he was told by his offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese that just because a play works or doesn’t work does not mean the play was bad or a bad call. The play can be a good play and called at a good time but if it is not executed well it will matter very little.   Often we, like lots of football fans, think the result always matches the quality of the idea it comes from. That just isn’t the case. Some good ideas fail because no one ran with it. Some good works never get anywhere because the way it was put into place wasn’t adequate. On the flip side, somethings succeed not because it was good but luck and chance gave it life when it should have withered away.   When it comes to success in our spiritual lives, we can’t just hope the outcome is good. We need to follow techniques that are good. Bi...

   In math it doesn't make a lot of sense but in life there really is such a thing as addition by subtraction.  It is when you gain when you remove something from your life. The Bible is full of examples. 1 Corinthians 15:33   “ Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals." Proverbs 13:20   “He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will suffer harm.” Ecclesiastes 9:18   “Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.” Hebrews 12:1   “ Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us ,” Ephesians 4:22   “ that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit ,”    In our lives, we all ha...

    In the late sixties, there was a rash of plane hijacking (in 1969 alone, there were nearly three dozen attempted or successful hijackings to Cuba of flights originating in the U.S.).  One however that occurred in February of 1969 might just be the strangest.  An Eastern Airlines flight from Newark to Miami was interrupted by man with a 10-inch knife held at the neck of a stewardess, demanding the plane instead go to Cuba.  The strangeness occurred with the passengers and the crew; they took it as one big joke.  They saw the knife but everybody was cool and calm, just a little annoyed at the delay.  Some of the passengers were noted to be laughing and carrying on, not the least bit worried. How could people act that way in the middle of a tense and dangerous situation?     Well it all had to do with a passenger that just happened to be on board.  His name was Allen Funt, the creator, producer, and host of Candid Ca...

   Let's take a look at Jude 1:15-16: to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."    Here Jude brings the hammer down on the ungodly.  They will be convicted for their deeds, judged for their way and punished for the harsh things they have done.      Now when he rails against the ungodly, who do you have in mind? Murders? Rapist? Drug Dealers? It has to be the worst people in society, the dregs of the human race. After all, think about how many times he calls them ungodly?      So who does Jude have in mind?    Well he tells us exactly in verse 16, “ These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage”.    What? Complaining? Nitpicking...

    An Ohio judge recently angered state and national defense lawyers after he had a public defender arrested for being unprepared for trial. The Portage County Judge had assistant public defender Brian Jones arrested for contempt of court after Jones refused to begin a misdemeanor assault trial because he said he was unprepared. Jones had only been assigned to the case one day earlier, but the judge still thought it was the defenders job was to be prepared.  I don't know enough about the courtroom to know if he was right, but it made me think about the case that I am supposed to be ready to defend.    In 1 st Peter 3:15, we read, “ but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;”. I may not be a defense attorney but that doesn't mean I don't need to be ready to make a defen...

Monday morning scattershooting while wondering why I thought style of article was a good idea.   I love freebies. You know those trinkets you can pick up at conventions and trade shows.  A couple of years ago I picked up a little tube of hand sanitizer that is about the size of a pen from the Duke consulting table at Polishing the Pulpit. I still carry that around because it is so handy.  Most freebies are like that, they don’t cost a lot but the people that get them really like them.  We should give spiritual freebies to strangers. Things like compliments, congratulation, credit. Those don’t cost us much but can make a big difference to other.  I did a sermon series on a book called “ Try Giving Yourself Away” by David Dunn . The book has several great ideas along those lines.    I saw in my news feed another celebrity had a “wardrobe malfunction”.  I really hate that term. Most “wardrobe malfunctions” could be solved if people woul...

       A few weeks ago the nation was in an uprising over a severe national problem, the replacement refs in the NFL.  After several weeks of bad calls culminating in game deciding “missed” call, fans were fit to be tied. As I listened to the throng of opinions, one that I heard disturbed me the most.  The commentator said that while everyone was upset with the league, the buzz it had created was good.  As he quipped, “there is no such thing as bad publicity”.       That is not the only time I have heard this strategy promoted. We have seen in lots of forms of entertainment. Starlets leek their immoral trysts to jump-start careers, Bad boy rockers supplement their image with bad behavior. Political commentators say outrageous things.  All trying to gain publicity by any means necessary.       It might even work, in the short term. What they do not realize however is that the ...

    This week I was reading an article and I realized I have been inflicted with Schadenfreude.   Before you offer me your condolences, you might need to check yourself. I think many of us have experienced it before. Schadenfreude is a German word that that means pleasure that is derived from the misfortunes of others.   It might be the giggle we get from the YouTube video of the woman falling while stomping grapes or the sense of satisfaction when our favorite team’s biggest rival suffers an injury. I know at times I have been happier about an enemy’s failure rather than my own success.    So what causes this condition?  Researchers studying this reaction have discovered that it is related to envy.  A brain-scanning study shows that the Schadenfreude response is located in the same part of the brain as the envy response.  We covet other’s success or achievement and enjoy when that is taken away from them.  In the worst cases, we are not...

   I discovered the older I get the more I sound like my father.  It seems all those oft repeated phrase my dad told me keep popping up in my life.  Like when the wife said something about buying something on sale to save money, I quipped, “ You don’t save money by spending money ” Or when the kids whine “I can’t do it” and I quickly respond “ Can’t never could do nothing! ”  It seems those little bits of wisdom did stick, no matter how much I tried to ignore them.    Maybe the same thing happens to you. You notice how much your voice sounds like your parent’s voice.  It makes me think of what Jesus said to the disciples in John 14:23-24.  “ Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.”  Jesus sounded like h...

       I think the hardest thing about moving isn’t filling the boxes, or renting the truck or figuring out where everything goes, it’s all the change in habit.  Those simple routines we work ourselves into to simplify life.   Now instead of going into autopilot and following a familiar routine, we are forced make hundreds of little decision that normally would never enter our mind.  Everything seems harder than it should be.  Habits help make life easier.                         Easier however doesn’t always mean better.  Bad habits can give us less discomfort in the short term but set us up longer term failure.  Poor or vulgar language makes it “easy to say” but leaves others with negative long term impressions about us.  Fast and easy meals are nice but may bring regrets to your waistline.  The Bible ...